Door arrangement for pump-cars.



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DOOR ARRANGEMENT FOR DUMP CARS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26. i918.

Patented July 16', 1918.

s SHEETS-SHEET '1 oounooonoo ceceno oaooooooaoomu INVENTOR' 1n: mmnrsEvans m., pnomumn.. wAsmNn mn, n. c,

E. W. SUMMERS.

DOOR ABRANGEMENT FOR DUMP CARS.

APPLICATION man FEB. ze, |918.

1,272,871 Patented July 16, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2^ y l l l l I FIG. 2

INVENTOR rm: Nmmls 1L-rms ca. pnomumu.. asuma-mn. n. c

E. Wt SUNIIVIERS.

DOOR AHRANGEMENT FOR DUMP CARS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1918.

Patented July V16, 19:18.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3 FIG. 3

FIG,

WITNEssx-:s

Rs ca., pHoro-uma., wAsmNmlmA nv c.

E. W. SUMMERS. noon ARRANGEMENT lFOR DUMP CARS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1918- Patenwd July v16, 1918'.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4 O/wooaoocooooo Ova FiGA- R O A T N E V N Y E.msnm/1BRS. DOOR AHRANGEMENT FOR DUMP CARS.

y APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26. 1918.

Patented. July 16, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5 mc Nonms n: 1a v/Asmrvonm, n. c.

i eine t@ bildern-.ged este er fpneigef uit;

yVented .fa ne j and UNITE@ srnns PATENT ornrcn Doon ARRAEMET v`nonlinnn-clins.

Sfiee-icatniii of ietters Patent. I J vf6,

hallaban; Q 13e it, known. that I, Enel-n bfpiwrinnnsma i l feueg enyan'dStateof'Pennsylvania/hare in- 'i Inl' ovsenient in Arraiigein ntsforDlunplQa s of vvh'i'ch the. following' is a .s'liiecilicx'aton-w l lThis meteen *rentes tafhpgr poepie railway cars, more particularly., tofor handling iron ore and other Very heavy nlateirl .i l ii Y i51 Uil v`The primar 'ojljj'ect otthebnrventilon: 1s to sith a i'vthou iQiS-figtheol lll length beyondthajt of,presentA stand@ d ore cars, so that thecari Will inter@ 1an' n n v Land capable of being used in1itrainniai'd'e i inpartof *he l@ CMS-@slim new @ifa vWithout interferingivithlgduinplng or unloading `en the p sentdock Ik y l 'elian'geextending tlfi'e (hodjf dow IiWard'y` so rth to" the tia K i I liiiiii'o'unting the drs ht iitlwithsjtiidiiilgftheir lower position theywill not, Vwhen open,feX tend down'so far, as to he interfered withorcalg'lit by tliet i 'acl;. Il 5l" I Prictcally all the orfe dhcksfthisjc'younf try, particiilaijly thoseih `t l 1`e Northwest, have the'pojekets spaeeatwiv@ .feet between centers, and the standard iore'carsare tvenvty-four feet in lengthorerall; so that )h'e'n a traiii'fcarsls spotted on the track the discharge opening of a Car is ydiretllyoyei eiei'y alternate pocket, is desirable and in factiiecessary toinaitainthese dinieii# sions of the ore ears in order tllatyall of ythecars of the train niay be dunijed with a lsiii(- gle spotting of thetrain and in orderA that the proper eheniical nii-itunes ofthe ore canbe secured in the different pocketsofthe docks. lf the ears were, say,thirty-'six feet long, it would not be Possible' to.c dninp all of theearsajith a .single spotting' the train but it would firsthe'iic'essaryto lmnp the cars that were 4centered oYei1 pockets and then more'` thetrain one diifec ion oij the other to lspot the oars not initiallycentered ver pocker-S.' oeneequehtly the great@ er; peditioiiofunloading is secured bj* having cars of the standard length of tiYei ty-'f of th'e' ent' l than in standard ore ears and feet:l thusfe'nahlihgall c to rebuild them would involve a tremendous eggpensehe ore.carrying roads have adopted the 24 feet long overa-ll.. as. standard:for ore ears, .This limitation inthe length ofthe cansnecessarilyflimits the capacity., The oapaitysfurther;limited bythe factthat the `discharge openingini the bottoni of the c 'arV eannotfbelonger thanfthe pocket opening, to avoid spilling, orev from a single:ear into twohadjac'entipockets and maken: iinypossible'togsecure theproperchemi'oal mix- 4tures4 inthe different pockets; fand ,by thel:'furtlier et'thatthe end plates of, the 'car innst hare, a `pitch of,approximately-V50 dels froIxnA-vthe horizontalii'i order; that .theSti@ 5?, 191'@ Willi-distillerie@ by gravit/ym It therefpreeyident thatc-,en alonger car, say 36 feet voiigmvolrildA iiotjnrease the capacity'of the oar per lineal foot of track. Y I

.The ,purpose of the present; invention is to increase theapaeity; olifsu'chY o1-e, cars Witheet increasing :their Overall, :lengt-hs or1511.1@ length, 0f the ,lschei-gwpening in their hottoins, redir ngslopeof the eiidvplates.

. Thisis accomplis iedin part byggiyingthe ordinary swinging doors usedforclosing the discharge opening of cars ofthis kindA will be low downtl1atwlien fully opeirtlieir, f

free edges projectbelow the track andginto th'epocket :andethns preijentmovin l1@ y.Qai-

whe'n the Vdoors arev open. i l heenfound that theswinging type ioi?doors aI piactially ilidispebrisahlerfiorhandling sticky or -frozen ironores. VVithsu'ch iii'ate.M

rial the; doors vcrannotvbe. opened `at .alliii their initiallinoyeineiit paralllel; or` stilistantiall'v Aparallel; lo their surfacec n act because their initial opening movement is substantially normalto their surface contact with the coi'itents of the car so that theyreadily fall away V4from the ore by gravity, But when the doors aremounted upon tiXed aivots, as is the oractice' it is not o'ssible toY iextend tlie car bodies closer to the track nor =toincrease the width ofthe doors or the distance betweentheir fixed axes over what is.V

now the practice, as otherwise the lower cdgespof the doors, when fullyopen, will ex- -tcnd belowthe top ot' the track-and thus prevent movingthe train when the doors are open, and they vmust be fully opened. inorder to get suiiicient inclination to permit the sticky ore to runofi'.

- .This difficulty is overcome bythe present invention by so mountingthe doors that in their initial opening movement 4they pivot .aroundtheir upper edges in the same man- Aner as ordinary swinging doors, thusipern'iitting them to drop away from the ore body by' gravity, thusputting the door in Ymotion so that the inertia of this motion and thewedg-ing action'ot the falling ymass of ore from above will preventsticking and stopping themoveinent of the doors;v and after vthisinitial movement2 said doors have a bodily swinging movement to increasetheir inclinationsand enlarge'the discharge opening withoutl furthermaterially lowering their centersof gravity, thus enablingthe doors tomove to-full open position andstill clear the track. V

In thel accompanying drawings, in which `one embodiment' of theinvention is illustrated, Figure 1 is in part a side elevation and inpart av central longitudinal section. through a car embodying theinvention;- `40 mechanism and illustrating the movement o Vthe doorswhen opening; F1g.`6 is a plan View of the door actuating mechanism;Fie. 7 vis a detail viewv showinga portion of the door actuatingmechanism in elevatiom'looking from the end toward thecentei of the car;Fig. '8 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 7; and Fig'`9 is a side elevation of thelocking pawl and dumping mechanism shown inFig. 7,

Ate

The car bodyillustrated is of the general design of hopper bottoni carsused in the ore carrying trade. Itcomprises the vertical side walls 110,end walls, il. 4sloping' end plates '12', and sloping side 'plat-es 13eX- tending down to the rcenter discharge opening, wliichis of a lengthnearly equalzto the Vclear distance between the inner truck wheels andot' a width materially greater than the track, as is apparent from Figs.3 and 4. This body is carried by the usual trucks and hashorizontalbuffer columns or girders 14, holsters 15 and longitudinal draft sills16, and other frame vmembers which need not be described inV detail. Theend plates 12 areinclined at an angle ot' approximately 50- degreesi'romthe horizontal so as to insure thejsticky ore being discharged bygravity. Furthermore7 these end plates not only slope from the endfwall11 to the discharge opening, but also :slope from the sides of the cartoward its longitudinal center line. i As a consequence, some increasein capacity is 'obtained in this way and also the ends of the dooropenings (the doors being inclined 'from the sides to the center of thecar) are straightlinesg-giving a discharge opening of regular form.V

As a furthermeans for increasing the capacity the `car body is 'as wideas the clearances along the right ofy way perm1t,fand

this results in a Vdischarge opening in the ibottoin of maximum width.

An increase in capacity is further obtained by extending the bodydownwardlytoward the track lower than has heretofore been the lpractice, and ythis has enabled thecar body to be also made higher,because theolownvwardly projection of the body maintains the center ofgravity at a safeheight. The net result isthat the car hasa capacitynearly 50 per cent.- greaterthan standard Vorecars of the same length asheretofore constructed and, further, has avery wide discharge openingand one which is of regular shape, that is7 straight at the ends aswellV as at thesides.

The discharge opening is closed by means of two doors 1S, which lie inan inclined position, sloping from the sides of the car to and meetingat its longitudinal center line.a.n l which are hingedto the body attheir upperl outer edges. In order to permit these low hung doors toswing :t'ully to open position. without being interfered with .by vthetrack. they are so mounted that at the beginning of -their openingmovement they pivot about their upper edges and allow the lower edges todrop away from the load, but after such initial inovei'ncnt theyA movebodily to increase their inclination andthe size of the dischargeopening .but without lmaterially further lowering their Acenters ofgravity. This can be laccomplished in. various ways. As shown, the upperedges of the doors are hung on short links 20, pivotally connected tothe edges of the `doors at 21 and to the car body at22, the latterconnection being to bracketsv secured to the under side of thehorizontal. girders 14;. while their lower edges are-suspended by'longerlinks pivotally secured to the car body at 24, such as beingpivoted to brackets 25 secured toy vthe lill i manners o'fii'ionntnigt ef sections orfinembers 33 whie to the wrist pins o carriedb chargeopening, while their lower ends have vthe endsif yly/Jg-sliapedpressed'stiffening gir-ders '29, secured to. the lower Afaees off the doorsnear their inneredges. As av consequence of thisknonn 1ingf. when thedfoor holding ineafilis allse'cl, the 'innervends of the dOOrSdropfreily, du@ t0. the slof and lilineonneetidns 2dr-ind 27., and'pivot` around the pivots"2Isubstantially `as though thc latterwere fixedpivots. Inoveivnent continues untilfthe lost rnotion'connection at26"and 2T is taken npiin which non Hition 'the doors have assumed thedottedfliiie 'position 3,0, 'Fis- 5: The, inertie mrelfted. t0 the doorsby thisinoyeinent7 as well as' the wedging'actionof `the ore fallingdown ontothe doors *llhrough :the gap between' thfe san-re, 1t, es "thedoe-s ana-@rdn bodily swinging"inovenient Aat their outer edgesaround;'ther pi as a. center and at i.n'1 ieredgesaround the pivots 231"as' a een',-

`fl"his swinging inovenient nieves the doors ontwardly-tfo'increasethewidth 'of` the discharge 'opening'and also to in rease the inclinationof the doorsv (dueto theffact ,that tlieliiilisnQiS are longe-r than thelinks' 205! but Ye'e th'l "final @Snipes @hei-* lower edges are ^atjsubstantially the' saine levelasmafter the pivotal inovenient.

The iinal'4 vpositions of 'these doo s is indifaljyfthxe;dotted lines igo. a consequence; thi.' move to fully open position and, assiu aninclination sulllieient to insure thfc'fdischa l,efofptliesticky inassgravity, and the Vsaine. time have their "'ede'suftic'ently to Deleauthe track; solthatthere is no danger-"of injuring the do( 'sshould,the-engineer start theftijain* betoi e doors are clos a'ifiousiother rdoors to secure this The n'ieansl for actuating the doors niaybe' of, vaijiots kinds` ,bn illustrated in the drawings is efficient. As shown7 there is 'sethe 4dischar e opening,` linlisf32` having, theirinner ends piyotally Connected to the pins 27,',l'andhaving at 'theirfouterv'ends curved i K Y are lConnected ei @he im x fthe outer ends o5,5 Secured-1Q. the loilsitudinal' shafts 36 which arewinounted in-:suitable fivillE linesin Figj pull upon theV connecting links orrods'32 and' draw the doors inwardly 'toA their closed positions. Theparts are so designed that the'eranls l35 carry the wrist pins 2st 'tos'neh a' positiontha'ttheyare slightly beyond a straight line connectingthe centers to` shafts 3,()V and pins 27 (the curves in the memberspermit the cran'lsto assuinethis position) and Consequently,v the loadon the doors tends to hold thein in their `closed positions.

This closing means is very efficient because the links 32-arevpullingsubstantiall)v nornal to the planes of' thedoors when' in open position'and consequently the doors can be closed` with a 'ininiinuni amountofpower.

Apron plates 38 are attached to the sloping yend floor plates 12vv atAeach end of the door opening on both sides of the car tofforin with thedoors," when in open position, chutes or slides to confine theoi'e andpreventit from spilling over into an adjacent pocket of the doek.

' The' longitudinal shafts 3G are extended toward neendof the car andare connected by beveled" gears 40 to a transverse shaft 4l mounted onthe car fra-ine iinderheath the sloping' endplates,V so that therebyboth longitudinal shafts' 36 'are simultaneously actti-ated. The shaftdlis actuated by means of. a second transverse shaft 42 whose ends projectbeyond; the car sides and are shaped to receive suitable'aetuatingmeans," such as a crank. 4vThe conneotio'n between the shafts il and 42'is such that the doors can' be both open'eda'nd closed by a rotation ofthe shaft in' Aone direction. The mecha-` nism for accoinplishii'igfthis and for locking the 'doors incl'osed positionlis show'n in Figs'-6,7 8 and 9; 'As here shown, the shaft lll has keyed thereto a gearwhich vine'shes witlra pinion 45 loose onJ the'shaft ft2. Keyed to'butslide-ble on the shaft 42, is a clutch member 4 6' adaptgedyin oneYdirection to lock the'pinion Jr to the shaft 422', in its'intermediate"position to .bex entirely dis-en-y gagedon both' sidesv`and 1n its opposite positionto lock to the shaft42 a ineinber 47v whichis normally loose on shaft 4t2'. and whichis provided with a detent ordog-S engaging a ratchet disk 49 fast on kthe shaft,

1-'such as beingintegral. with the gear itl.

flihe' member l? is alsoprovided withan a-rin' .30 which 1s connected!by means ota curved.

"'"Assun'ling that-the. doors are closed and it isfdesiiedvlto openYthesanie, the yclnt'oh f6 is shifted to engage the niernber ll? andthenl by turning-the shaft 2t-ina clockwise di# rectionFig'. 9.) the'detent 48 is dis-'engaged from the ratchet teeth on t l ish -it9,an`dthe arni Qg'throngh thelist;

llO

Y tating'the latter also clockwise.

disk 49 is fast on the shaft 41, this imparts arm upwardly, causingVthey same to engage the shoulder 53 on the disk 49 and rorotary movementto the shafts 36 so as to y.move their crank arms 85 from the full lineposition shown in Fig. 5.

. selves is suiiicient to cause the d oors to move `fully to their openposition so that the mechanism described serves primarily merely toinitiate the opening movement. When it is desired to close the doorsclutch member 46 is moved in the opposite direction to engage the pinion45 and lock the same to' shaft 42V, and by merely rotating the shaft v42in the same direction in which it wasrotated to open the doors, rotarymovementv is imparted by gear 44 to'shaft41 and thence to shafts 36which are now rotated in the opposite direction to pull on the links 32and close the doors. W hen the clutch 46 is disengaged from the'member47, the link 51 and arm 52 .drop back by gravity, assisted by spring 54,to normalposition and during the closing of the doors the detent 48merely clicks over'the ratchet teeth on the disk 49, and when the doorsare fully closed said detent engages the ratchet teeth to positivelylock the doors in closed position, although generally very little strainis placed on these locking means'because, as already stated,fthe cranks35 and centerline of links 32 are beyondthe center of shaftv 36, so thatther weight ofthe doors themselves automatically tends to hold them inclosed position.'

The clutch member 46 is shifted by means of a bell crank lever pivotallymounted at 56 (Fig. 7) and having one arm'forked and engaging a groovein the clutch member 46 and its other arm perforated and engaged by arod 57 slidable through said perforation, but engaging the arms by meansof cushioning springs 58 on eachV side thereof and which arm isconnected to a crank 59 formed in atransverse operating rod 60 mountedin suitable bearings 61 on the car frame and extending toboth sidesofthe car and there provided with operating handles or cranks 62. Byrotating the shaft 60 in one direction, the clutch member 46 is causedto engage the member 47v for Vopening the doors and by rotating saidlshaft k6() in ythe opposite direction said clutch memberis caused toengage the pinion 45 forl rotating the shafts 36 in the oppositedirection to close the doors. The cushioningysprings 58 are provided inorder that, in case the clutch faces on the pinion 45 and member 47 arenot in position to receive the clutching face on the member -46 when theshaft 60 is rotated, one or the other'of said springs will be put undercompression so that assoon Since the tua-ting means, substantially asVthe shaft 42 is rotated', the springswill push the clutch member 46 intolockingengagement with the pinion 45, orv member .47 as soon as theclutchin brought into alinement By the mechanism described, the doorscan be actuated from eitherl side of the car andboth the opening and theclosing movement is effected vby rotation of the shaft 42 val'- ways inthe same direction.l y Therailway vcar illustrated and described has amuch greater capacity than any ore car now in use and at the same timeis not increased .in its overall length, so that' it is entirelyinterchangeable with cars already built and invuse, and preserves allofthe advantages of the standard length of ore cars as hereinbeforedescribed.

What I claim is 1. An inclined door for bottom discharge dump carshaving independent mountings at its upper and lower edges arranged toallow thedoor at the-beginning of its openT ing movement to pivot aboutits upper edgeV and allow the lower edge to drop away from the load andafter such initial movement to move bodily outward without materiallylowering its center of gravity, Vand door acas and for the purposedescribed. f

l2. `An inclined door for bottom discharge dump cars, and suspendingmeans at bot-h edges thereofl having pivotal connection with both thedoorv and the car body, the suspending means at the loweredge of thedoor having a lost motion connection therewith, whereby at theVbeginning ofthe opening movement the door pivots yabout its upperedgeand its lower edge drops away from the load and thereafter has a bodilyVswinging movement, and ldoor actuating means, substantially as and forthe purpose described.

dump cars, and suspending means at both edges of the door having`pivotal connections with both the door and the body or frame of the car,the suspending means at the lower edge having a lostmotion connectiontherewith andbeinglonger than the suspending 4. In a bottom dischargerailway dump car, a pair of longitudinally hung doors in the bottomthereof meeting on the longitudinal center line of the car in theirclosed pog faces have been 3. An inclined door for bottom dischargesition, independent mountings for ythe upper and lower edges of saiddoors so arranged thaty the initial opening movement of 'said' doors isabout fixed points at or near their upper edges and the concludingopening movement is a substantially bodily movement sidewisc, and dooractuating means, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In a bottom discharge railway dump car, a pair of longitudinally hungdoors in the bottom thereof meeting on the longitudinal center line ofthe car when closed, independent suspending means for the upper andlower edges of said doors and having pivotal connection with both thedoors and the car body, the suspending means at the lower edges of thedoors havin@ lost motion connections therewith, whereby at the beginningof the opening movement the doors pivot about iiXed axes at or neartheir upper edges and thereafter have a substantially bodily movementsidewise, and door actuating means, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

6. In a bottom discharge dump car, a pair of longitudinally hung doorsin the bottom thereof meeting at the longitudinal center line of the carwhen closed, independent sus-v pending means for the upper and loweredges of the doors having pivotal connections with both the doors andthe body or frame of the car, the suspending means at the lower edges ofthe doors having a lost' motion connection therewith and being longerthan the suspending means at the upper edges of the doors, whereby theinitial opening movement of said doors is about Xed aXes at or neartheir upper edges and the concluding openingmovement is a substantiallybodily movement sidewise, and door actuating means, substantially as andfor the purpose described.

7 In a bottom discharge railway dump car, a pair of longitudinally hungdoors in the bottom thereof meeting on the longitudinal center line ofthe car when closed, actuating means for said doors comprising alongitudinal shaft mounted on each side of the ear at the side of thedischarge opening, means directly connecting each of said shafts to thedoor on the opposite side .of the car, and operating means for saidshafts.

8. In a bottom discharge railway dump car, a pair of longitudinally hungdoors in the bottom thereof meeting on the longitudinal center line ofthe car when closed, actnating means for said doors comprising alongitudinal shaft mounted at each side of the discharge opening,operative connections between said shafts and the doors, a transverseshaft connecting both of said longitudinal shafts, and actuatingmechanism for said transverse shaft arranged to operate the same to bothopen and close the doors by movement of said actuating means in the samedirection and to lock the doors in closed position.

9. A hopper car body provided with a central bottom discharge openingarranged low and near to the track and provided with end plates slopingfrom the end of the body to said opening and being of V-formtransversely of the car, thereby providing a rectangular dischargeopening, oppositely swinging inclined doors longitudinally pivoted atthe sides of said discharge opening and inclining downwardly and meetingat the longitudinal center line of the car when closed and so mountedthat atlthe beginning of their opening movements they pivot about theirupper edges to allow their lower edges to drop away from the load andafter such initial pivotal movement they move bodily to increase theirinclinations and increase the door opening without materially loweringtheir centers of gravity, and door actuating means.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

EDGAR W. SUMMERS. Witness:

GLENN H. LEREsoHE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained forive cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

